All Night Long With Chloe
by Mari2Anne
Summary: Chloe's hospital room after Clark saves her from being buried alive S1E20"Obscura" Response to "Scenes from a friendship" thread by Marikology at K-Site


All Night Long With Chloe by Mari2Anne

This was originally written in response to Marikology's drabble challenge thread, "Scenes from a friendship," at Kryptonsite.

All Night Long With Chloe by Mari2Anne

Season One Episode 20, "Obscura"

Scene: In Chloe's hospital room after Clark has rescued her from being buried alive.

As Clark and Lana got set to leave so Chloe could get some much needed rest, Chloe had asked Clark if he wouldn't mind sticking around for a while because the creep who had kidnapped and buried her alive was still on the loose. Clark could tell that she was still quite upset and told her, "Of course not; I'll stay here as long as you need."

"Thanks."

They both said "Good-bye, Lana" as she turned and left the hospital room.

Clark was so worried about his tough fearless friend, Chloe, being so uncharacteristically afraid that he never even spared a thought that Lana was actually the one still in danger.

Lana had seen through the creep's eyes and might be able to identify him. Chloe hadn't seen anything because according to Chloe's description of her ordeal, he'd been very cautious to keep her in the dark.

But Clark thought none of these things. He only thought his friend was in pain and she needed him. Nothing else mattered at the moment. It was way past visiting hours but he knew how to "look" for and keep hidden from the hospital staff so Chloe wouldn't feel alone. Her fear reflected his own emotions when he hadn't known where she was. He'd do anything she needed to help get her past this. And he knew he was doing it for himself, also; staying to reassure himself that she was really okay.

He stayed sitting on the edge of the bed, his left hand still held tightly captive by Chloe's right hand. He gently touched her cheek with his right hand feeling a deep anger at the crook who'd dared to bring tears and fear to Chloe's happy sparkling eyes.

"I'm sorry, Clark."

"For what? You didn't do anything wrong."

"Asking you to baby-sit, at least until I fall asleep. I-I can't believe…how scared I was; how scared I still am…" she tried to smile, but her lips were still trembling.

Clark didn't know what to do; the horrible memory of when he'd first x-rayed that field and seen her buried in that coffin suddenly blurred his vision as he recalled his own terrible fear. He wanted to pull her into his arms and promise he'd never leave her side again; he'd keep her safe until the creep was caught and locked up. He tried hard to hide the tears in his own voice as he looked down and took her left hand in both of his.

"That's nothing to be sorry about, Chloe. You wouldn't be normal if you weren't scared. He's the one who should be sorry for doing this to you. So don't think that way, okay? I won't leave you alone, I promise. So just close your eyes and try to get some rest. I'll be right here if you need anything."

He tried to give her a reassuring smile as she scooted over and told him to get a little more comfortable. So he turned around, resting his head against the pillow she'd fluffed up against the top frame of the bed and put his legs up on the bed also. It was a tight and not too comfortable fit. But he felt Chloe relax into her pillows as she closed her eyes without letting go of his hand, so he didn't complain.

Chloe soon drifted into a deep sleep and after a couple of hours her steady breathing let Clark relax enough that he eventually drifted off also. Suddenly flailing, panicked hands under the sheets and a frightened moaning brought Clark out of his restless slumber a few hours later. He quickly realized Chloe was having a nightmare trying to dig her way out of that coffin again. His heart broke as he carefully lowered the sheets and captured both her hands in his and whispered her name, "Chloe, Chloe, you're safe. Wake up. It's me, Clark. You're safe now."

Scared crazy eyes suddenly flew open trying to comprehend her surroundings and finally fixated on Clark and filled with tears as she threw her arms around his neck and sobbingly whispered, "Thank you, Clark…" She repeated it several times as he tried to soothe her shaking shoulders by gently stroking her back. He felt a helpless anger that took all his concentration to keep under control.

He let her cry even though crying females scared the daylights out of him. Something told him she needed to let it out the same way he needed to break things to get rid of the fear and anger raging inside of him. He'd just have to wait until he got back to the farm and take it out on his chores. After a long time her sobs subsided and he thought she'd gone back to sleep when she suddenly started to talk. She talked into his chest for which he was unbelievably grateful, the anger on his face would have scared her even more as she relayed every detail she remembered from the moment she'd been rendered unconscious outside of the hospital.

It was almost dawn when she came to the end of her nightmare ordeal. Clark could not believe how courageous she had been keeping her wits about her and constantly doing her best to try to escape and he told her so several times whenever she took a breath during her story. Exhaustion finally won out as she let go of the death grip she had around Clark's neck and slid her arms back under the sheets and settled her head back onto her pillows. He heard her mumble, "Sorry about your shirt, Clark." He had to look to see his shirt was soaked with her tears and gladly told her, "Nothing to worry about, Chloe. Flannel would be useless if it couldn't survive a lady's tears." He was encouraged when he saw her attempt a half-smile before sleep finally claimed her again. That attempt at a smile warmed him. He wanted so much to bring back the famous Chloe smile that had so often cheered and, he had to admit, charmed him. As she slept he tried to think of the best way to ask her to the Spring Formal. He wondered if he'd waited too long; Lana had tried to tell him girls needed time to shop for a dress and stuff. And his mom had tried to encourage him to ask Chloe. He felt a little ashamed of himself, not asking her sooner. He knew she liked him. Pete had tried to hammer that one into his head a few times already.

And if he'd had any doubts about his own feelings towards her, this nightmare of having almost lost her, completely wiped them away. He liked her a lot and he knew that taking her to the dance would not only make her smile, it would give him several chances to hold her close again. He'd just spent half a night learning how wonderful that felt, except the next time she was in his arms he'd make darn sure, she'd have nothing to cry about.

His plans for their near-future calmed him a lot as he carefully got off the bed and pulled one of the chairs in the room close beside the bed and sat down to watch her sleep until Mr. Sullivan's entrance into the room woke Chloe up. She sat up quickly as he made his way to the other side of the bed and gave her a wonderful reassuring hug.

Clark stood up slowly and said, "Good morning, Mr. Sullivan." He couldn't tell if Mr. Sullivan suspected that he'd spent the whole night but instinct told him Chloe might not be comfortable with it being brought up so he politely said, "I have to get back to the farm to finish my chores. Call me if you need anything at all, okay, Chloe."

She didn't let go of her dad, but she turned her head and with tear-filled eyes told Clark, "Thank you again for saving me, Clark. Thank you for _everything!_"

Mr. Sullivan thanked him also and Clark only smiled, trying to put a little of the Kent charm in to his expression as he walked out of the hospital room, looking forward to seeing the sparkle back in Chloe's eyes, right after that creep was caught.

-the end-.


End file.
